About

There’s a new cat in town!

Sleepy Cat Urban Winery, located in the heart of the Theater District in West End of Allentown, is owned and operated by Mark and Carrie Gerencher.

We opened in August 2016 with a wide variety of wine, a fun vibe and a winery experience, urban style. We made wine at home for 4 years prior to this new adventure and fell in love with it. With production and a tasting room in the same location, you will be able to see where production occurs and taste our wines all in the same facility in an urban setting.

What’s an Urban Winery?

Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary defines urban as “of, relating to, characteristic of, or constituting a city” and winery is defined as “a wine-making establishment.” Put the 2 together and you have us!

Currently, we are purchasing grape and fruit juices to produce our wines as we do not have a vineyard and we do not have plans to purchase a vineyard. All fermentation, back sweetening, filtering and bottling processes are done on site by Mark and Carrie and some very gracious friends and family.

We can’t thank our “Friends of Sleepy Cat” enough for helping us out through these processes.

Meet the Owners, Mark & Carrie

Mark & Carrie Gerencher have been married since 2004. They held their wedding rehearsal dinner at this very space, which they’ve now transformed into an urban winery.

Why open a winery? We started making wine at home about 4 years ago and loved it. We’ve made several varieties including some fruit wines from hand-picked fruits. What was once a ha, ha, “we should open a winery,” funny, dream turned into reality after Mark got laid off from his job of 18 years.

Mark was born and raised in Allentown, went to Allen High School and received a Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing from the Pennsylvania State University.

Carrie was born in Allentown and raised in Emmaus, went to Salisbury High School. Carrie seems to be a life-long learner….having 2 Bachelor’s of Science degrees (Hotel & Restaurant Management and Nutrition) and a Master of Arts in Nutrition Education. She is currently the on campus Registered Dietitian at Lehigh University.

We both love animals and have 3 cats. We are also geocachers that enjoy looking for adventure and meeting new people. We’d love to visit all 50 states! 26 states down, 24 to go!

Meet the “Real” Owners, Teemu, Dante & Phoenix

Teemu is our 15 year old, geriatric cat. He was Mark’s cat before we married and still favors him. He is our very vibrant cat that loves to “clean” our shoes, give head butts, steals your warm spot in a second and take long, lazy naps. He is the life of the party and loves visitors, especially ones that will give him a pet on the head.

Dante is our 11 year old, middle “child”. Dante is Carrie’s shadow; just look for Dante and you will find Carrie. He loves to take naps under the covers, watch the birds, and lounge in the sun. If you are a visitor at our house, you should consider yourself super lucky if you spot him as he is very skittish with anyone but us.

Phoenix is our 6 year old baby. He was the first cat saved from a hoarding situation. He loves to wrestle with Teemu, nap in the window or any random place, & he loves paperclips, pens and hair pins. He has a habit of waking us up to pet him at 4am. He is considered our welcoming committee when visitors arrive. Considering where he came from, we think he’s one lucky kitty, or cutie pie.

Meet Apollo! Apollo is the newest member of the Sleepy Cat team! We think he is about 6 years old, but we can’t be sure because he is adopted. He is such a love bug and is settling in with the other cats very well. He loves to lay on Mark’s feet, loves to sneak Dante’s food, & talks to his toys. He is often seen bird & squirrel watching out the back window. He is so happy here at his new home & we are so happy to have him!